Women Deacons - Overview

From at least the 3rd to the 9th centuries women were sacramentally ordained as deacons in the Catholic Church! This proves that they are capable of receiving Holy Orders.

Main Topics	Supporting Documents
General Introduction to Women Deacons	New book by John Wijngaards: No Women in Holy Orders? The Ancient Women Deacons Canterbury Press 2002.
1. The Sacramental Ordination of Women Deacons Differences discussed Opponents answered original Greek from manuscripts dramatizations of the ancient ordination rite	Texts of ordination rites from: the Apostolic Constitutions; the Barberini gr. 336 manuscript; the Grottaferrata gr. Gb1 manuscript Vatican manuscript gr. 1872; Coislin gr. 213 manuscript reconstructed from seven manuscripts; Syriac manuscript.
2. The Tasks of Women Deacons	functions at baptism; parish work; service at the altar; supervisory roles.
3. Church Councils on Women Deacons	‘Women Deacons in the Orthodox Church’
4. Historical fact of Women Deacons	Women Deacons in historical records Lists of Women Deacon Saints Deaconesses in Late Antique Gaul 102 Women Deacons known by name
* Women as Deacons by John Wijngaards The Tablet 15 Feb. 2003 ‘Women were Deacons’ by John Wijngaards The Tablet 8 May 1999 * ‘The diaconate - a ministry for women in the Church’, by Ida Raming, Orientierung 62 (1998) pp. 8-11 * Women Deacons: Goodwill Gestures, The Catholic Herald, August 19, 1990, page 5; by Moya Frenz St Leger	Letters to the Editor of The Tablet ‘A Call I Cannot Answer’, The Tablet (29 June 1991), by Moya Frenz St Leger Debate in the Irish Times, 2001

Related Documents German Catholic Women write to Cardinal Ratzinger ‘The diaconate - a ministry for women in the Church’, by Ida Raming, Orientierung 62 (1998) pp. 8-11. ‘Should Roman Catholic Women seek to be ordained Deacons?’ by John Collins, Ordination of Catholic Women Newsletter vol. 3, no. 1 (April 1996) pp. 5-11. ‘Contextualising Dorothea Reininger’s Women Deacons’, by John Collins. This is an excellent introduction to the complex issues surrounding the future diaconate of women. ‘Letter to Catholic Women’, by John Collins, from Letters to Deacons, 1999. Review of ‘Holy Saturday: An Argument for the Restoration of the Female Diaconate in the Catholic Church’ by Phyllis Zagano, Crossroads 2000. More articles to follow!

An analysis of this ordination rite shows that the ordination of the woman deacon is the same as that for the male deacon, and undoubtedly sacramental.

John Wijngaards